PHASE I [ ?? ?? ] This time, ViViD is a deathtrap.
There is random magma everywhere, monsters will spawn at random, and at some points, the game is entirely unplayable. It’s like the dev team totally disappeared mid-constructing the level.
Oh wait, that’s exactly what happened.
Monsters may spawn on top of you, you may suddenly be standing in a poisonous bog, you may suddenly lose your powers, or your senses, or so many different things --
It’s time to get out of here, ASAP.
Thankfully, the exit is obvious. Like. Blindingly obvious. It’s got a big sign over it that says EXIT
And just like that, you’ll be out of ViViD and --
PHASE II [ 0830 ] When you wake up (and it’s strange, because you were sure that you were logging out just a second ago), it’s in a pile of bodies.
They’re cold, but not in the same sense that a dead body would be cold. While they are lifeless and look incredibly real, they don’t feel real. They feel like dolls, mannequins, empty models and nothing more. Their code doesn’t seem to be functioning right.
And what some characters may realize upon looking at this pile of bodies is that they are all of the characters who were sacrifices before. Any character that was dropped who had a high magical or spiritual affinity is there in that pile of bodies, lifeless and eyes blank and vacant. Even you might be there, staring at your own dead body -- but it isn’t real It can be touched, but it’s really nothing more than a lifeless body.
You’ll have to crawl out of that pile of bodies to get anywhere, and then you’ll realize -- you’re in the Sanctuary, a building built by the characters as a safe place from CERES. And it’s looking pretty run-down at this point. The technology in it no longer functions, there is no security on it whatsoever…
Oh, and now there’s a pile of bodies. Great.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] There’s also a robot.
It’s wandering from place to place, though it’s impossible to follow. One second it’s there, the next it’s just gone.
Also, it’s wearing this. Weird.
But even with that on its face, the robot seems focused on one thing in particular. In fact, it has a sign, and it says:
Down with CERES. Up with Robots.
That’s a happy, cheerful message. If you try to go up to it to talk to it, it will look at you before...bonking you on the head with the sign and running off. That’s incredibly rude.
Alternatively, you may be safe and sound in your home, but then the doorbell rings, and there’s the robot again. The duck mask is gone, but now instead it has a pin on his fake lapel, and then he’s shoving a pamphlet at you.
He tips his hat, and then he’s gone. Weird.
(Also, if you hold onto the pamphlet, it will lead you directly to the person whose picture is on it, and you’ll feel like you’ve known them and have loved them for years.)
PHASE IV [ 1245 ] But not all is fun and games and shenanigans. There is something...well, strange happening, and the first real realization of that will be when it starts to rain. More than just the localized rain that a few unfortunates have dealt with -- no, it’s raining completely and totally, and that’s when it might hit you.
For the first time in Cerealia, there’s weather.
It’ll rain for a few hours, and then it’ll stop and become hot and sunny. It may get humid, considering it’s a jungle planet. At night, it’ll get rather cold.
Seems like whatever was keeping Cerealia’s atmosphere stable is now gone -- which also means that characters may start to occasionally experience headaches, nausea and dizziness if they go too close to the walls. It seems safer in the center of the city, and the Residential District is still okay, but… there’s no doubt that the planet’s atmosphere is starting to encroach on the city.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] But who cares about all of that? More importantly, you are here in this… totally not shoddy city to have fun, and it’s still being advertised as a pleasure colony. Or, well, it would be if, you know, CERES was still around.
But close enough.
And as a pleasure colony, it would figure that the first robots to really get fixed are...well, the Pleasure District robots. Unfortunately, the Pleasure District is still a nice big mess, so now they’re wandering the entire colony, looking for people they can hug, massage or...try to drag into more explicit activities.
Welcome to Cerealia!
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She further leaned into him as the rain pattered down overhead.
"Mm, Ichigo-san... it's selfish of me to say, but if you hadn't been reforged, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you. You wouldn't get to meet people like Mikazuki-dono again, or have the chance to make new memories with him. So... I think it's a better thing. Not good, or bad, or anything like that. Just... better." Better than the alternative of not existing at all.
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Finding his brothers again did give his life meaning and direction, but he kept the mental torment he felt to himself. His brothers were young and he did not wish to burden them with the knowledge that the oldest brother they worship was falling apart inside. The news that his world was destroyed and his brothers probably all dead was a further blow to his already fragile mental state. What else did he have to live for? However, he did not feel this was something he could or should share with Chihiro. So he just smiled.
"I am truly honoured that you feel that way, Chihiro-chan." As for making new memories with Mikazuki. Did he really have a chance? Tsurumaru had told that Mikazuki was getting married... And though he couldn't recall anything of their past relationship. The news had broken his heart. All he could do was smile to mask the pain as he glanced up at the sky again. "Ah, the rain seems to be stopping."
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... suffice to say, he's correct. Empathy can bridge distances, alongside knowledge, but to truly know any of a life lived so long and so broken takes an understanding that Chihiro, at least, does not presently have.
Hearts break because they can heal again. That much, Chihiro knew. (That she was a forcible optimist with a willful disregard for the possibility of giving up had equal parts to do with personality and age.) "It is?" She glanced up, blinking as she noticed the sunlight striking the mist left falling overhead. Soon enough, the mist had turned into nothing more than air. He was right.
The rain had been stopping.
"Mm, this way." She moved, keeping hold of his hand for just long enough to tug him forward with a small, short lived smile. Ichigo wasn't okay. She knew that, just as she knew that the pain that lived in him wasn't one she could personally understand. Not without help, and not without his permission. It was new territory, if at least feeling, and emotion, were parts of her life since infancy. "I'll take you home."
It was the least she could do, even when "home" lay in places beyond their reach. Home had to also reside in their hearts and memories. If it didn't, it would be too cold and lonely to bear this place and its cruel eccentricities.
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